Day 13: SherMaine

DAY 13- 19th July 2018

7 am in the morning, we were woken up by the senamrobik session happening in the field. It went on for an hour we gave up trying to sleep in hahaha.

After eating breakfast, we donned our traditional clothes and waited for the majlis perpisahan to start. Many of us started taking pictures with the kids by the corridor. Some of the kids started crying before the majlis started. I was surprised to see some of the tough kids crying.

During the majlis, the headmaster gave a speech and we collected our certificates. Finally, it was time for us to perform with the kids. We danced to Kungfu Fighting and Original Sabahan. We ended the performance by singing Laskar Pelangi. The teachers loved our performance and asked for an encore. So, we danced Original Sabahan again as it was everyone’s favourite. We danced to our heart’s content albeit being all sweaty and hot. After the performance, we ate lunch in class. Meanwhile, the teachers and students were having a karaoke session in front. I can vouch that Sabahans love to karaoke. The headmaster and at least half of our volunteers sang as well.

After the karaoke session, we went to take pictures with the mural painting. The asrama kids were saton the stairs just looking at us vain adults taking pics.

That afternoon, our usual extra class was turned into a bonding session. Some kids were playing board games and the rest were chatting about their personal life.

During our daily 4-5pm playtime, we had another dance session. We did both of our performance dances again but this time kids from the other age groups joined as well. On top of that, we did a few of the senamrobik dances from the first week. Marshella and Eleanor both went up stage to lead the kids. Some of the kids could really dance!! Diego was so focused and eager to learn. He gave me the cute face and begged me to lead senamrobik. How could I say no :’)

After days without water supply, we finally got to shower with the asrama girls using water from the tangki although we always feel soapy after showering hehe😊 Our daily motto in Teringai was to ‘Live in ignorance, shower in ignorance, and sleep in ignorance’. That’s how we got by the water shortage, tinted water from the tangki, and stagnant algae water from the sungai ❤

During the night session, some of us gave our kids a motivational talk about their life. We got our last tokek scares from the kids and said our goodbyes.

Everyone was like “we are not gonna sleep tonight” as it was our last night in Teringai (of course, everyone went to bed early heheheh). That night, we lied on the ground in the open air, stargazed and learned to appreciate the beautiful sky. Zheyi didn’t join us as he was the first to sleep. And without doubt, we witnessed him sleep talk for the last time.

The next morning, each of us gave a few words of advice to the kids during the closing ceremony. We shook every kid’s hand from darjah 1 to darjah 6. Every darjah 6 kid cried. All the boys sat at the edge of the court facing away from the crowd trying not to show their weakness (because guys were deemed to be strong) while the girls cried in a huddle.

After that, we loaded our bags into the van. As I headed towards the van, the kids pulled me back and asked me to stay 😦 My heart melted and I didn’t know what to say so I told them I had to “kerja di office” lol. When we were in the van, the kids were all lined up along the padang waving at us. They ran alongside the van while waving and crying… I managed to hold back my tears thus far. When they were blocked by the school gates and could no longer run, I gave in and cried when I had my last sight of them. </3